Chester's Opens 200th Store of the Year

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-- Chester's International LLC, a leading fried chicken foodservice provider for the convenience store industry, has opened its 200th store of the year. The milestone was crossed with three recent openings: Sunmart Store in Fargo, N.D.; Bailey's in Franklin Furnace, Ohio; and College Marathon in Indianapolis.

"Chester's success can be attributed to our commitment to our retailers, and in return the store operators commitment to the brand," said Kathryn Kudulis, brand manager. "It's exciting to be part of a company where focus on the customer is evident from the top down."

The franchise has attracted a loyal following in their 46 years, with more than 1,800 stores that can now be found in the United States, Canada, Central America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. In 2011, Chester's was ranked No. 164 by Franchise Times magazine in its Top 200 Franchise Systems and No. 229 in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500.

Other recent successes for the Birmingham, Ala.-based company include winning best new product awards from CSP and other trade media.

Despite the economic recession, Chester's has continued to see very strong growth both domestically and internationally, it said.

"It's an excellent time to be partnering with a fried chicken QSR like Chester's," said Jennifer Peek, internal sales manager. "We provide onsite training, grand-opening support and scheduled consulting visits for each of our locations."

Chester's flexibility along with it charging no franchise fees or royalties has made the company popular with many industry leaders including Love's Travel Stops, Circle K and Kum & Go.

Chester's is often associated with travel stops, convenience stores and supermarkets, but can also be found in airports and sports arenas as well as other nontraditional locations.